Mourinho eager to build English core to Chelsea squad

Chelsea have just half-a-dozen English players in the 25-man squad lists for the Premier League and the Champions League which were confirmed today, with Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry no longer at the start of their careers.

Mourinho, who returned to the Stamford Bridge club this summer, sees no reason why Chelsea cannot continue to bring their own talent through the Academy.

"I like that. Of course you can without English players, but I like to have at least a little core of English players," Mourinho said in an interview with the official Chelsea Magazine.

"If possible - and we have to work for it - I would like to have a little core of English players made in Chelsea Football Club, starting here since young boys. I think a club needs that culture as well.

"The other guys in the Academy, I am starting to know them now. I watch them train; I trained with them and I watched them play.

"So I start knowing these guys and as I said before, it's not just important to have English players, but also to have players made in this club who learn what it means to be Chelsea.